Sovereign wealth funds piling into BTC as retail exits — Coinbase exec

Sovereign wealth funds and other institutions were accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) during April 2025, while retail traders were exiting the markets via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and spot markets, according to John D’Agostino, the head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional.

During a recent appearance on CNBC, the Coinbase executive likened Bitcoin to gold and said that many institutional buyers bought BTC as a hedge against currency inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty. The Coinbase executive said:

“Bitcoin is trading on its core characteristics, which again are similar to gold. You’ve got scarcity, immutability, and non-sovereign asset portability. So it’s trading the way people who believe in Bitcoin would like it to trade.”

“When you do the work, there’s a very short list of assets that mirror the characteristics of gold. Bitcoin is on that shortlist,” the executive added.

Governments and financial institutions are increasingly adopting Bitcoin to protect purchasing power and the value of their treasuries in the face of macroeconomic shocks and geopolitical tensions.

Related: Bitcoin holders back in profit as new capital enters the market — Is $100K BTC price next?

Institutions adopting Bitcoin reserve strategies to combat inflation

Sovereign countries like El Salvador and Bhutan have adopted national Bitcoin reserves and actively purchase Bitcoin for their reserves.

Municipalities and state governments have also adopted pro-Bitcoin policies and proposed legislation to accumulate Bitcoin to protect the purchasing power of treasuries from depreciating fiat currencies.

Michael Saylor and Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, popularized the corporate Bitcoin treasury concept now adopted by a growing list of companies, including MARA, MetaPlanet, and Semler Scientific.